Leading Chinese registrar West.cn has said it will subsidize .xyz renewals to the tune of $1.5 million.

According to a West.cn press release, CEO He Xiaojiang made the announcement alongside XYZ.com counterpart Daniel Negari at meeting in Beijing on Friday.

The registrar’s .xyz customers “are going to get high rebate back from West.cn so that they can get very low renewal fees”, according to a translation of the original Chinese.

The subsidized renewal price, which starts in June, will be RMB 18 ($2.73), according to the company.

That’s about a $7 discount on West.cn’s usual renewal price of RMB 64.

First-year .xyz prices at the registrar are currently RMB 8 ($1.22).

West.cn is believed to have well over a million .xyz domains on its books. With over a third market share, it’s XYZ.com’s biggest registrar.

The press release points out that West.cn is not getting a special rate from XYZ (which would be against ICANN rules).

Negari declined to elaborate on the specifics of the subsidy.

But in what is no doubt a related move, he told DomainInvesting.com yesterday that XYZ has “reserved several million dollars to be spent with registrars and on advertising platforms for our 2 year anniversary”.

This ad spend will be made over the month of June, he said, to coincide with the June 2, 2014 general availability launch of .xyz.

Fifty registrars are participating, he said, calling it the “biggest sale” the industry has seen.

Whether through heavily discounted renewals or bargain first-year regs, it seems the company is set on making sure its DUM volume does not dip as its anniversary approaches.

It’s not unusual for registries to do special offers to coincide with launch birthdays.

.xyz currently has about 2.8 million registered domains, but about 1.8 million of those were registered after June 2015 and are not in need of renewal before the promotion period expires (though registrants can of course renew whenever they like).

Comments (4)

For purposes of this Section 2.10(c), a “Qualified Marketing Program” is a marketing program pursuant to which Registry Operator offers discounted Renewal Pricing, provided that each of the following criteria is satisfied: (i) the program and related discounts are offered for a period of time not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) calendar days (with consecutive substantially similar programs aggregated for purposes of determining the number of calendar days of the program), (ii) all ICANN accredited registrars are provided the same opportunity to qualify for such discounted Renewal Pricing; and (iii) the intent or effect of the program is not to exclude any particular class(es) of registrations (e.g., registrations held by large corporations) or increase the renewal price of any particular class(es) of registrations. Nothing in this Section 2.10(c) shall limit Registry Operator’s obligations pursuant to Section 2.10(b).

If .xyz is so desirable why does it need propping up. This is proof that .xyz is a house of cards waiting to tumble. Those who cannot see through this .xyz DUMPING are in deep denial. This is not the first time Negari has manipulated the .xyz extension. WAKE UP CALL

.XYZ have ALWAYS flouted the equivalent access provisions of the registry code of conduct. They seem free to pick and choose which registrars they offer preferential pricing and/or marketing incentives to, at the expense of all other registrars, and their customers alike.

I am aware of numerous complaints having been made to ICANN in the past, all of which are swiftly resolved with a “no evidence of any wrongdoing” type conclusion. We can all see it for what it is, so why does ICANN refuse to act to curb these unfair and anti-competitive practices? All very odd.

R.E. to your comment = ” We can all see it for what it is, so why does ICANN refuse to act to curb these unfair and anti-competitive practices? All very odd ”

It all boils down to MONEY, The bombardment of uneeded extensions has created a lot of money for a lot of people. The domaining Industry RESEMBLES very closely the proliferation of Questionable Mortgages peddled to the unsuspecting, that caused the last banking Bubble to Burst. Watch your Back, the Regs could care less, most of them are looking to divest right now. Warning do not be the last one out!